Two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali is heading to HBO’s Delco-set crime drama Task for season two, stepping into the Philadelphia mix as a new professional thorn in the side of Mark Ruffalo’s Tom Brandis. The move signals a likely scale-up for the series while keeping the story anchored in the neighborhoods that helped turn season one into a local obsession.
According to PHILADELPHIA.Today, Ali is expected to play Eddie Barnes, a veteran Philadelphia DEA agent whose team goes head to head with Brandis’s unit. The outlet also notes that season one ended with Robbie Prendergrast’s death, clearing narrative space for fresh rivalries to power the next chapter.
Ali as a Philadelphia DEA adversary
The Daily Beast describes Barnes as “a seasoned and well-respected DEA agent in Philadelphia whose team comes into conflict with Tom’s unit.” Bringing in Ali, one of the most distinctive dramatic presences on television, suggests season two could lean harder into interagency tension rather than simply replay the robbery-investigation rhythms that drove the first run.
Big money keeps Task shooting local
The Pennsylvania Film Office has awarded the series a $49.8 million tax credit for season two, and state officials say the production could pump about $194.1 million into the commonwealth and support more than 3,700 jobs, according to a release from the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development. That incentive is cited as the main reason the show will stay in southeastern Pennsylvania instead of chasing a cheaper backlot elsewhere.
Season one’s local footprint
Season one reportedly generated roughly $230 million in local spending and hired hundreds of Pennsylvania workers, figures that helped persuade state leaders to support a return engagement, per The Philadelphia Inquirer. Local reporting has also tracked shoots across Aston, Marcus Hook, Media, Ridley Township and Upper Chichester, plus key scenes in Philadelphia’s Italian Market and Wissahickon Valley Park, stitching the show into familiar corners of the region, according to PhillyVoice.
When cameras might roll
HBO has not announced when production on season two will begin, and casting details beyond Ruffalo remain scarce. Local outlets say there is still no locked-in shooting schedule, leaving open questions about exact timelines and which neighborhoods will see crews return, per MyChesCo. For local businesses and crew members who rode the season one wave, the tax-credit news already looks like an early heads-up that steadier production work is likely on the horizon.
Creator Brad Ingelsby, a Berwyn native who previously helped put the Philadelphia suburbs on the television map with Mare of Easttown, has repeatedly said he wants to keep his stories rooted in the places that inspired them. Ali’s casting underscores that HBO is still betting on that local authenticity. More casting news and a clearer production timetable are expected in the coming weeks as the state, the network and the production team lock in season two plans.
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